Spinnaker sail and method of manufacture thereof

Abstract

A spinnaker sailboat sail is fabricated, according to one embodiment, from at least one transfer medium and at least one sheet of durable spinnaker sailcloth material. The transfer medium includes dyes forming backwards-imaged, visible content. The sheet of sailcloth material includes tightly woven fibers and has two sides. The transfer medium is positioned upon a first side of the sailcloth material at a location at which the visible content is desired to be affixed. Heat and pressure are applied to the transfer medium and the sailcloth material sufficient to force the dyes from the transfer medium completely through the sailcloth material by transferring the dyes from a solid state directly to a gas state to flow past the tightly woven fibers of the sailcloth material. The heat and pressure are then removed to enable the dyes from the transfer medium to become permanently affixed to the sheet of sailcloth material.

1 . A method for fabricating a spinnaker sailboat sail, the method comprising:
 providing a transfer medium that includes dyes forming backwards-imaged, visible content;   providing at least one sheet of durable spinnaker sailcloth material having a first side and an opposing second side, the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material including tightly woven fibers;   positioning the transfer medium upon the first side of the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material at a location at which the visible content is desired to be affixed;   applying heat and pressure to the transfer medium and the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material sufficient to force the dyes from the transfer medium completely through the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material by transferring the dyes from a solid state directly to a gas state to flow past the tightly woven fibers of the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material; and   removing the heat and pressure to enable the dyes from the transfer medium to become permanently affixed to the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transfer medium is oil-based. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the visible content includes at least one of textual informational matter, an image, a logo, a slogan, and a photograph. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sheet of durable spinnaker sailcloth material is a previously manufactured spinnaker sail. 
     
     
         5 . A method for fabricating a spinnaker sailboat sail, the method comprising:
 providing a plurality of transfer mediums, each transfer medium of the plurality of transfer mediums including dyes forming a backwards-imaged, visible content portion, the backwards-imaged, visible content portions of the plurality of transfer mediums collectively forming a single backwards-imaged, visible display;   providing a plurality of durable spinnaker sailcloth panels, each of the plurality of spinnaker sailcloth panels having a first side and an opposing second side, each of the plurality of spinnaker sailcloth panels including tightly woven fibers;   positioning a first transfer medium of the plurality of transfer mediums upon the first side of a first spinnaker sailcloth panel of the plurality of spinnaker sailcloth panels at a location at which the visible content portion of the first transfer medium is desired to be affixed;   applying heat and pressure to the first transfer medium and the first spinnaker sailcloth panel sufficient to force the dyes from the first transfer medium completely through the first spinnaker sailcloth panel by transferring the dyes from a solid state directly to a gas state to flow past the tightly woven fibers of the first spinnaker sailcloth panel;   removing the heat and pressure from the first transfer medium and the first spinnaker sailcloth panel to enable the dyes from the first transfer medium to become permanently affixed to first spinnaker sailcloth panel to produce a first imaged panel;   positioning a second transfer medium of the plurality of transfer mediums upon the first side of a second spinnaker sailcloth panel of the plurality of spinnaker sailcloth panels at a location at which the visible content portion of the second transfer medium is desired to be affixed;   applying heat and pressure to the second transfer medium and the second spinnaker sailcloth panel sufficient to force the dyes from the second transfer medium completely through the second spinnaker sailcloth panel by transferring the dyes from a solid state directly to a gas state to flow past the tightly woven fibers of the second spinnaker sailcloth panel;   removing the heat and pressure from the second transfer medium and the second spinnaker sailcloth panel to enable the dyes from the second transfer medium to become permanently affixed to second spinnaker sailcloth panel to produce a second imaged panel; and   joining the first imaged panel and the second imaged panel to form at least part of a spinnaker sailboat sail imaged with at least part of the visible display.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein joining the first imaged panel and the second imaged panel comprises broadseaming the first imaged panel to the second imaged panel. 
     
     
         7 . A spinnaker sailboat sail formed by a process comprising:
 providing a transfer medium that includes dyes forming backwards-imaged, visible content;   providing at least one sheet of durable spinnaker sailcloth material having a first side and an opposing second side, the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material including tightly woven fibers;   positioning the transfer medium upon the first side of the sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material at a location at which the visible content is desired to be affixed;   applying heat and pressure to the transfer medium and the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material sufficient to force the dyes from the transfer medium completely through the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material by transferring the dyes from a solid state directly to a gas state to flow past the tightly woven fibers of the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material; and   removing the heat and pressure to enable the dyes from the transfer medium to become permanently affixed to the at least one sheet of spinnaker sailcloth material.   
     
     
         8 . The spinnaker sailboat sail of  claim 7 , wherein the visible content includes at least one of textual informational matter, an image, a logo, a slogan, and a photograph. 
     
     
         9 . The spinnaker sailboat sail of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one sheet of durable spinnaker sailcloth material includes one of nylon and polyester. 
     
     
         10 . A spinnaker sailboat sail comprising:
 a plurality of a durable spinnaker sailcloth panels, each sailcloth panel having a first side and an opposing second side and including a respective dye sublimated, visible content portion on the first side thereof;   wherein the plurality of sailcloth panels are joined to together to form a complete spinnaker sail such that the visible content portions of the sailcloth panels collectively form a visible display on a first side of the complete spinnaker sail, and   wherein sailcloth material used for each sailcloth panel is sufficiently translucent to allow sunlight to show through to a second side of the complete spinnaker sail and thereby enable viewing of the visible display from both the first and second sides of the complete sail.   
     
     
         11 . The spinnaker sailboat sail of  claim 10 , wherein the visible display includes at least one of textual informational matter, images, logos, slogans, and photographs. 
     
     
         12 . The spinnaker sailboat sail of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of sailcloth panels are broadseamed together.